“Did Robin tell you who spoke first?”
I thought back to the night we talked about her encounter with Alex. “She didn’t say. She just said that they were having a fascinating conversation and when their orders were called, Alex said he didn’t want to be like ships passing in the night and never see her again, so they got a table and ate together.”
“Do you remember Robin telling you anything about him that I haven’t heard yet? Anything at all?”
All right, Derek was getting to me. I rubbed my cold hands together because I was starting to worry now. Still, there was no chance in hell that Robin was a spy. “We should probably get her on the phone for more details, but I do remember her saying that he was an engineer born in the Ukraine. He came over here to go to Berkeley and never left. He was cute and funny and sexy, blah, blah, blah.”
“Blah, blah, blah?” he said.
I chewed on my lip. “I shouldn’t belittle her feelings for him. She was so happy. She blushed when she talked about him. Robin never blushes. And she called him Mr. Wonderful.”
“She cared for him,” he mused. “I saw that, as well.”
“That’s right. You were here when she talked about how he liked museums and ball games and all that stuff.”
“Yes, and you called him a metrosexual.”
“Exactly.”
“I still have no idea if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
“I’m not sure, either,” I said, laughing. My smile faded slowly. “She really seemed to like this guy Alex, and I was worried, somewhat selfishly, I guess. Because I know she’s been in love with Austin forever, and I’ve always wanted them to get together. Of course, now it seems they have, so we’ll see what happens.”
“Did you share your concerns with her at the time?”
“Yes. She blamed Austin for not making a move in her direction. Said she wasn’t going to sit by the phone waiting for his call.”
“No, she doesn’t seem the sort who would sit around waiting for a man.”
“She’s definitely not.” I sipped my cocktail. “And you were here when she told us about Alex manipulating her into inviting him back to her place.”
His lip curled in derision. “Yes, I remember that part. So now where are we?” He consulted his notepad. “Let’s go on. Tell me again what the name of the restaurant was?”
“Kasa. It’s an Indian restaurant. There’re a few of them around the city. We laughed about that, because she’d just returned from India. But she still had a taste for Indian food.”
“Just a moment.” He dropped the pen on the notepad, glanced around the room as though he’d lost something, then turned to look at me. “She’d just returned from India?”
“Yes, she took a tour group there. I told you.”
“No, you didn’t. You left out that rather interesting detail.” His forehead was creased in thought. “How recently did she return from her trip?”
I gave him an odd look. “Are you sure I didn’t tell you this already?”
“No, you absolutely did not.”
“I’m sorry. I guess I’ve been distracted.”
“Yes, well.” He scribbled something on his notepad. “Plenty of distractions lately.”
“I’ll say.” Most of the distractions had been caused by Derek and his sudden constant presence in my life. Not that I was complaining. I gathered up our empty plates and took them into the kitchen. Derek beat me to the sink and took over, washing the dishes as we talked. I got the funniest little twinge around my heart as I watched him work in my kitchen. Talk about distractions.
“Anyway,” I continued after forcing my gaze away from his wet, soapy arms, “Robin was on her way home from the airport when she stopped at Kasa to get dinner to go.”
He ran hot water over each dish and utensil and placed them in the drainer. “And she was in India for what? Two, three weeks?”
“Three weeks.”
“Any idea where she went?”
“I know she landed in New Delhi and the trip centered around that area of the country. She took them to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. I think they rode elephants in Jaipur and camels somewhere else. You know, the usual. Then the group flew home and she flew to Varanasi to see her mother.”
“Her mother lives in Varanasi?” He tilted his head to look at me. “Why didn’t I know this?”
Frowning, I considered the question. “I’m really not sure. Anyway, she stayed with her mom for three days, then flew home.”
“And then she flew home,” he mused. “I assume she gathered her baggage, obtained her car from long-term parking, and headed for home. Unless someone picked her up. Did you?”
“No,” I interjected. “She drove her neighbor Sharon’s car to the airport and left her Porsche at home in the garage.”
“Why didn’t she just call a cab?”
I shrugged. “She did, but it didn’t show up and it was getting late, so Sharon gave her the keys to one of their cars. They have, like, four old cars.”