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her grandmother too well. Gloria wanted her married. Ever since the engagement to Kyle had ended, she had taken an almost obsessive interest in Leonora’s love life. Gloria had adopted a now-or-never attitude toward the project that was downright scary at times.
    “Do you think Meredith really embezzled that money?” Gloria asked.
    “Probably. She was a con artist.”

    “Sad but true.”
    “The thing is,” Leonora said slowly, “I’m not sure about Thomas Walker’s goal in this thing.”
    “You said yourself that he wants to find the missing funds.”
    “Yes, but maybe he doesn’t intend to put the money back into the endowment account.”
    “Aha.” Gloria arched her carefully drawn brows. “You think he’s after it because he wants to steal it himself?”
    “As he so succinctly pointed out, a million and a half dollars is a very motivating amount of cash.”
    “My, this is complicated, isn’t it?”
    “There’s more.” Leonora paused. “Brace yourself. He implied that there’s a very remote possibility that Meredith was murdered.”
    Gloria had just taken another sip of the wine. She coughed, sputtered a bit and took another sip to fortify herself.
    “Murdered?” Gloria looked momentarily blank. “Murdered?”
    “Walker suggested that an accomplice might have been responsible for the accident. I think he suspects that she might have had a partner.”
    “Who would that have been?”
    “Me.”
    “You? Utter nonsense. You and Meredith had nothing in common.”
    “Thomas Walker doesn’t know me as well as you do, Grandma.”
    “Well, I suppose that’s true.” Gloria pursed her lips. “Perhaps Mr. Walker invented the murder theory to terrorize you into cooperating with him.”
    “Who knows? That’s the whole problem here. I don’t know what is going on or what to believe.”
    “This is all so typical of Meredith, isn’t it?” Gloriasaid. “Create a mess and let someone else pick up the pieces.”

    Leonora drove Gloria back to Melba Creek Gardens after dinner. She parked in the visitors’ lot, got out and hauled the sleek, wheeled walker out of the trunk.
    Gloria had the passenger door open by the time Leonora got the walker unfolded and in position. Together they made their way into the elegantly appointed lobby of the retirement community. The receptionist nodded in greeting as they went past.
    They got into a glass elevator that overlooked the lushly landscaped grounds and rode it to the third floor. Leonora got out and waited for Gloria to get the walker aimed in the right direction.
    A number of apartments opened off of the carpeted hall. Next to each door was a small wooden shelf, just large enough to hold a vase of flowers, personal knickknacks or a holiday decoration. It was understood that each resident was expected to do something creative with his or her shelf. Leonora was always amused to note that none of the shelves had been left unadorned. Peer pressure was a powerful force at any age.
    Halfway down the carpeted hall the door of one of the apartments opened. A man stuck his head out into the corridor. What little was left of his hair was very white. He eyed them over a pair of reading glasses.
    “Hello, Herb,” Leonora said.
    “Evening, Leonora. Thought I saw your car downstairs in the parking lot. You two have a nice time?”
    “We had a lovely meal,” Gloria said. “I’ll probably pay for it later, but who cares? Got a cabinet full of antacid.”
    “You look real nice, Gloria,” Herb said. “I like that green on you. Matches your eyes.”

    “Skip the compliments, Herb. They won’t get you anywhere. Finish your column?”
    “Hell, yes,” Herb said. “I don’t miss my deadlines, unlike some people I know.”
    “Now, now, you know Irma had a good excuse last week. Her nephew was visiting from Denver.”
    “So what? My niece came to see me two weeks back. I still managed to get my column done.”
    “Irma turned in a great travel article this time,”