Out the window came old “Sally Go Round the Roses.” That meant Zinnie was home. All the more reason not to go in.
“You know I’ve got to take this over to the station house, don’t you?”
“Sure.”
“You want to come?”
“No.” Not only didn’t she want to, but the wet grass had turned her backside into a dark, round embarrassment. “I’m going to change. Do you want to come back and eat here?”
He grabbed her wrist and turned it over to look at her palm. “There’s this house up on Eighty-fourth Avenue for sale. I don’t know. You’re not thinking of leaving town or anything, are you?”
“Am I supposed to answer as a suspect or a potential girlfriend?”
“It’s got a front porch with screens. And a fireplace.”
“Johnny, anything on Eighty-fourth is going to be outrageously expensive,” she heard herself conspire.
“Yeah, but this is a real wreck. Pretty, though. That’s why I thought of you, like.” He coughed gruffly. “It needs a lot of work on the inside. But I figured you’d like an old kitchen from the forties.”
It was, as a matter of fact, the only sort of kitchen she did like.
“And the outside looks kind of like a Swiss chalet. I mean it could. It has a real low overhang. And I’m pretty good with my hands. Really.”
They searched each other’s eyes excitedly.
“It’s on a nice little piece of property, too. If I got a good price for my house. And I might. It’s right on the track.”
She couldn’t believe she was standing there discussing buying a house in Richmond Hill with Johnny Benedetto. Nor had she forgotten his nearness to the track. “Johnny,” she laughed. “Aren’t we jumping the gun a little here?”
“No. We’re drawn to each other. That’s not going to change.” He let go of her hand. “Just keep it in mind.”
She shook her head with an adult flourish.
“You and I,” he looked her up and down, “we haven’t even gotten started.”
“Johnny, we don’t even know if we really like each other, do we?”
“Claire. You and I, we know we like each other. Really.”
Stan, at the window, pulling Mary’s favorite red leaf around in the lettuce dryer, saw the two of them out there with their heads together. Now or never, he decided, and he went outside.
“And something else you might like to know about,” she was telling him. “That redheaded kid who works the bar at Freddy’s? He thought I photographed him outside the church after the first funeral. And I have reason to believe that he’s been spying in my window. Someone told me they saw him. I think.”
At least, they haven’t gotten to the lovey-dovey stage, thought Stan. Mary would kill me if Claire took his camera before I told her about mine.
“Is that right?” Johnny seemed interested.
“I mean, I don’t have it in for that kid or anything. Really. I would only like my cameras back if he had anything to do with taking them. I wouldn’t press charges. I just want my stuff back.”
“Unless it’s needed for evidence,” said Stan, immediately getting the gist of the conversation. “In which case you won’t see any of it for a long, long time. Hi, Johnny.”
“How’s the boy, Stan?”
“Good. Good. Which brings me to the reason I came out here. Claire, do you remember my old camera?”
“No,” she said, wishing he would go away.
“Don’t let’s start arresting people here before we have anything on them,” Johnny joked, raising his hands above his head.
“No, of course not. It’s just that—”
“The Contax,” Stan said happily. “You remember. From Zeiss Ikon. The one I brought home from Germany. With the 1.5 lens speed.”
Claire frowned. “The only reason I mention him is because I saw him again today and Stefan told me—”
“Oh, so you are still hanging—”
“No, I am not. A 1.5 lens speed?” She turned to Stan. “Gee. I don’t remem—”
“Of course you don’t, because you were just a kid when I was using it. Mom just happened to mention that you might get a kick out of it. It’s just wrapped up in the attic doing nothing.”
“What’s a 1.5 lens speed?” Johnny wanted to know.
“It’s incredible,” Claire’s eyes shone. “It’s almost equivalent to a human eye … it lets you take a picture in candlelight. Without a flash.”
“And they don’t make them like that anymore,” Stan bragged. “Incidentally, it has the largest base range finder for accuracy distance measuring. And of course a built in light meter.” He watched Claire’s mouth begin to water. “The thing cost a thousand dollars in the forties. So you can imagine what it must be worth now.”
“A kitchen and a camera from the forties,” Johnny’s hesitant smile lit up. “What else do you want in one day?”
“Yeah. Gee. What is this?”
Stan looked back and forth at them. Some sort of private joke.