I assured Heidi I’d be over ASAP, and hurried to the bedroom to choose an appropriate check-cashing outfit (jeans, silk blouse, and Ann Taylor blazer). Then I sped off to Casa Kingsley, visions of Jaguars dancing in my head.

Conchi greeted me at the door, and in a surprising burst of emotion, she put down her Windex bottle and threw her arms around me.

“Oh, Miss Jaine,” she said. “Thank you so much for saving Miss Heidi.”

“It was nothing,” I said, breathing in her pungent perfume of sweat and Ammonia-D.

Eventually she released me and led me to the living room, where Heidi was sitting at the bay window, reading a book, just like the day I first saw her.

“Hey, kiddo.”

“Jaine!”

She put down the book and hurried to my side. What a difference from the day we met. It wasn’t just the weight she’d lost. She was happy now. I could see it in her eyes.

“Oh, Jaine,” she said, hugging me. “If it weren’t for you, I’d be in jail right now. How can I ever thank you?”

“Just seeing you happy is all the thanks I need.”

And I meant it. At that moment, Hal’s check was the furthest thing from my mind. I really liked this kid, and I was glad I’d been able to help her.

At which point, Grandma Kosciusko came bustling in the room.

“Jaine, darling!” she said, joining the hugfest.

After numerous thank yous and aw shucks, it was nothings, we finally broke apart.

“Let’s not waste any more time,” Grandma K said. “Hal’s waiting for you in his study. He has something he wants to give you.”

Okay, this was it. I felt like a lottery winner come to pick up my winnings. Grandma K led me to Hal’s study. She said she and Heidi would wait for me in the den while I had my chat with her son.

Hal sat behind a fabulous antique desk in his wood-paneled study. The air was thick with the smell of expensive leather.

“Jaine,” he said, looking up at me over his $500 reading glasses. “It’s so good to see you. I want you to know how grateful we all are for the part you played in exonerating my daughter.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” I lied.

“And as a gesture of our appreciation, I’ve got a little gift for you.”

“You didn’t have to,” I said, wondering if I should order the Jaguar in hunter green or black.

“There it is.”

He pointed to a couple of shopping bags propped up against the wall.

Huh? What happened to my check, the one with all the zeroes?

“My daughter tells me how much you like shoes. Apparently you two went shoe shopping one day.”

I nodded numbly.

“Anyhow, we were cleaning out SueEllen’s closet, and we thought you might like hers. Heidi says you and SueEllen are the same size.”

Oh, great. Just what I wanted. A dead woman’s shoes.

“And there’s one other thing I’d like to give you.”