well-maintained. Probably not a bargain, Craig thought as he led Mikey
through the wrought iron gate into the court, but still the sort of place
that was passed down from friend to friend.
The apartment was dark and the drapes were drawn. One of the nearby
apartments had a television game show on, but no one was in the courtyard.
“There’s a key in the planter by the door, under one of those phony
rocks,” Craig said. “She showed it to me when I stayed here.”
Mikey gave him a knowing smile.
“Not like that! I just crashed on her couch a couple of nights.” He didn’t
add that it had been while his mother had been in the hospital and he
couldn’t face going back to the house alone. Somehow that wasn’t the sort
of thing you told Mikey.
He groped around, picking up rocks from the planter.
“Shit. It’s not here.”
“May I help you?” a voice demanded sharply.
Craig jerked erect and whirled. A middle-aged woman was glaring at them
from perhaps twenty feet away. She had a sweater thrown over her shoulders
and a cordless telephone in one hand. Her thumb was ostentatiously posed
over one of the phone’s quick-dial buttons.
Before Craig could do more than flush, Mikey stepped forward smiling-far
enough to establish contact but not close enough to be threatening. “Yes
ma’am,” he said as if he was genuinely glad to see her. “My name is Ralph
Simmons. I’m Judith Conally’s supervisor. This is Craig Scott, a friend of
Judith’s. We’ve just come from the hospital and Judith asked us to bring
her a few things.”
Some of the venom left the woman’s stare. “I thought she was in a coma.”
Mikey positively beamed. “Oh, she’s come out of it. She’ll be in the
hospital a while, but she’s already talking about going back to work. I
don’t mind telling you that’s a relief to me-I mean aside from being happy
she’s going to be all right. Judith is the only one who really understands
that code. Just between you and me, we’ve been hurting without her.”
The woman shifted her stance and her finger moved away from the call
button. “Hadn’t she quit to write or something?”
“We’d brought her back on a consulting contract. You know, just for a few
hours a week. You don’t just let someone like Judith walk out the door.”
The woman nodded reluctantly. “She always seemed like a real dedicated
person.”
“Very dedicated,” Mikey agreed. “And a very good worker.” Then he frowned
ever so slightly. “But we seem to have a little trouble here. Judith told
us she left a spare key under a rock in the planter, but we can’t seem to
find it.”
“Oh, I took that in after the accident. Didn’t seem safe.”
“That was very thoughtful of you, ma’am. I wonder if you could see your
way clear to let us use it for a few minutes. You see, Judith wanted to
look over some of the listings and the doctor thought it would be good for
her. Kind of therapy, you know.”
“Well . . .”
Mikey turned up the wattage on the smile. “Oh, I know it’s a lot to ask,
but they never did find Judith’s keys after the accident. Naturally if
you’d like to call the hospital . . .” again the trace of a frown, “only
Judith’s not supposed to have phone calls and they’d probably have to
track the doctor down.”
“Just some papers, you say?”
“Yes, ma’am. She won’t be needing clothes or anything for a while.”
“I don’t suppose it would hurt. I’m Mrs. Mapelthorpe, the manager. I can
let you in on my pass key.”
“Yes, ma’am. If you’d like to come in with us, just to make sure . . .”
Mrs. Mapelthorpe smiled. “Oh, I’m sure that won’t be necessary.” She
fished in the pocket of her sweater and brought out a key ring. “Just stop
by 102 and check with me before you leave. Oh, and if you could, remind
her that her lease is up next month. She needs to decide what she’s going
to do about the apartment then.”