He took my hand, and kissed it. “Always a pleasure to meet an art lover.”

And then he headed off to turn somebody else’s knees to Jell-O.

It took me a minute or two to recover from Hurricane Eduardo but when I did I saw that Hal had left Larkspur and was now talking to Denise, who looked none too happy. She gestured angrily at the lovely Larkspur, who was heading toward the door.

I left the two of them to duke it out, and quickly intercepted Larkspur before she could leave.

“Hey, Larkspur.”

“Oh, hello, Jaine. Sorry I didn’t return your call; I’ve been really busy. Heidi tells me you’re investigating SueEllen’s murder.”

“As a matter of fact, I am.”

“I don’t know anything whatsoever that could help you,” she said, her lips sealed tighter than a Hal Kingsley facelift.

No way was I going to get any information from her. Not unless I was sneaky.

“Actually, I wasn’t calling about the murder.”

“You weren’t?”

“No, I wanted to set up an appointment for a massage. SueEllen told me how terrific you are.”

Her face relaxed into a smile.

“Oh, how nice.”

Then a tiny worry line marred her perfect brow.

“I’m pretty expensive,” she warned.

“That’s okay,” I said. How bad could it be?

“Two hundred an hour.”

Yikes. It’s a good thing I had Hal’s check in my purse.

“No problem,” I said. “I don’t suppose you have any available slots tomorrow.”

“As a matter fact, what with SueEllen’s passing, I do have some free time tomorrow.”

I gave her my address and she said she’d be there the next afternoon at three.

Then I headed back to the buffet table for an eeny weeny snack. Maybe a pickle, or some cole slaw. I was determined not to eat one more bite of that fattening pastrami. And you’ll be pleased to learn I didn’t.

I ate the fattening corned beef instead.

I was standing at the buffet table, loading it onto my plate, when Heidi showed up at my side.

“Can you believe that woman?” she said, eyeing the social string bean who’d dragged her away from me. “Just because her nephew and I are both chubby, she thought we’d like each other.”

“And did you?”

She blushed.

“He was okay, I guess.”

Welcome to the wonderful world of teenage hormones.

“Oh, look,” she said, eager to change the subject. “There’s Grandma!” She waved to a stocky gray haired woman, coming down the stairs. “She just flew in from back East.”

Heidi’s grandmother clomped over to us in sensible support shoes. Her spiky salt and pepper hair hadn’t seen a stylist in years. Like Nurse Denise, she was definitely out of place in this crowd.

“Grandma, I’d like you to meet my friend Jaine Austen.”

“Nice to meet you, hon.”

Right away I gave her points for not saying “Love your books.”

“You must be Heidi’s maternal grandmother,” I said, working on the assumption that this stocky peasant woman couldn’t possibly have given birth to the aristocratic Hal Kingsley.