“I already told the police everything,” Fitz said, looking steadily down at the ties and not at me. “I truly did. They had me for hours, you know. It was horrid.” He glanced at me in the mirror. “Not that I wouldn’t have gone through worse for Gloria’s sake, of course. I hope they catch the bastard, and soon.”
I tugged off my hat and ran a hand over my hair. “Fitz, for God’s sake. It’s me. I’m not the police. Don’t give me that line.”
He sighed. “Very well. I met a couple named Dubbs at a party about a year ago. We hit it off—they’re decent sorts, though they’re a bit older. They’re fascinated by spiritualism. Their only son died in the war, and they never got over it.” Fitz selected a tie and looped it under the collar of his shirt. He himself had been just a few years too young to fight. “Frankly, they were a bit of a bore, but they were persistent. They wanted Gloria to do a séance, and they wanted me to arrange it.”
“Where did Ramona come in?” I asked.
“Who? Oh, the showgirl. God only knows. All I know is that she must have smelled money, because she latched onto the Dubbses like an unwanted puppy. She was a nuisance, and it was difficult enough to pull this off without going through that hideous dragon Davies.”
“Davies told you no?”
“Of course. Gloria’s dance card was full, and she was taking a higher sort of client, or so I heard. Do you like this jacket?” He lifted a black evening jacket off the back of the door and slid it over his shoulders. “Lesley and Roberts, Hanover Square.”
“Fitz.”
He sighed. “That blond hair, those perfect cheekbones, and those legs, yet you’re all work and no play. You should come drink with me and some of the fellows. We love blonds. You used to be fun, you know.”
“Fitz, Gloria is dead.”
Fitz turned from the mirror and gave me the full force of his gaze. He was a man who gambled, borrowed money, did no work, and took on absolutely no responsibility, but he had a vital, low-life sort of charm. He used it now to look soulful, but the effect only made me feel uncomfortable and suspicious. “I’m well aware of that, Ellie. I loved her, you know. But we’ve all seen so much death. I think Gloria wouldn’t want us to sit around like a group of old dowagers. I think she’d want us to get out and enjoy life any way we can.”
“Just tell me what happened.”
“Very well.” Fitz patted around for cuff links. “I had been trying to get to Gloria for weeks. The Dubbses wanted to contact their son, Davey, and I do have a soul, you know. They were simply convinced Gloria was the only one who could help them. Then one night I ran into Gloria herself at the Gargoyle Club and I got to her myself to plead my case.”
“What was she doing at the Gargoyle?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Drinking, of course. We all were. I told her about the Dubbses, and eventually she agreed. She wanted the Dubbses to come to her flat like the others, but the Dubbses wanted to do the séance at their home, and I convinced her to do it.”
“Why did she agree?” I asked, shifting in my uncomfortable chair, the touch of one of Fitz’s shirts on my ankle. “It was completely against her policy.”
For the first time, he looked a little uneasy. “Well, I don’t know. We’re old friends. She simply said yes.”
“No, she didn’t,” I replied. “Tell me the truth.”
He scratched his chin, uncomfortable. “All right. I didn’t tell the police this part, but I’ll tell you, Ellie, because you’re a straight one and you’ll figure it out anyway. Frankly, the Dubbses were offering a bucket of money for Gloria to come to them, and if I arranged it I would get a slice of it.”
I stared at him for a long moment, shocked despite myself. “You arranged access to Gloria for pay?”
“Not exactly. No, no. God, no.” He looked away. “There was a lot of money on the table, Ellie. A lot.”
“But Gloria didn’t need money,” I said.
“Is that what Davies told you?” He shrugged. “Interesting. But Gloria didn’t tell Davies everything, Ellie. Especially about money. In fact, Gloria didn’t trust Davies very far.”
I had never heard this. “Fitz, what on earth are you talking about?”
“I don’t know everything, but when Gloria and I were together, she mentioned some . . . irregularities. Problems with money not being where it should be. Gloria suspected Davies, though she never had enough evidence to come out and say it.”
“You’re making no sense,” I said. Why I felt the need to defend the odious Davies, I had no idea. “Gloria was Davies’s employer. She could have just sacked her. Why would she keep on someone she suspected of swindling? Not just for a short time, but for years?”
Fitz smiled down at me. He was fully dressed now, in clothes worth more than many people earned in a year, with more discarded on the floor like rags. “Ellie,” he said, “you’re a decent girl and I like you, but you can be awfully naive. Davies isn’t exactly stable. Far from it, in fact. She has a temper that would put the fear of God into you, and Gloria was her entire life.”
“What are you saying?”
“Gloria was a little afraid of Davies. Of what she might do if she was ever dismissed. Davies knows a lot of secrets, and if she felt wronged, she wouldn’t be past making up a few more out of whole cloth. She could have done a lot of damage if Gloria ever cut her loose. So Gloria kept her on, where she could be controlled.”
I stared up at him, wondering whether it was true, wondering what else I had missed. “‘Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer,’” I said.
“Exactly. Gloria was no fool. And more to the point, Gloria did need money. For what, I don’t know. She didn’t confide in me anymore.” His voice grew almost bitter, and for a second his eyes were hard. “But I’ll tell you, when I told her the number the Dubbses were offering, she agreed. It was the money, Ellie. That’s what swayed her.”