I Read What?!

I'm really rather enamored with the very slow build intro for this book. Whereas the first few books in the series hit the ground running, this really kind of feels like a Midsomer Murders episode. Tom and Joyce are enjoying the country fair, and we're just waiting for someone connected to Joyce's latest hobby to keel over dead.

Everything in the first three books was very high-stakes emotional for Jack. This is less personal, but not uninteresting.



So we're back with Jack. He's dropped Marza and Madison off, and said goodnight to Bobbi. We're told that she invited him to stay, but she's pretty exhausted, so he decides to leave her to it.

Jack's always a practical sort, so he's using the opportunity to get stuff done. He ends up going back to the Nightcrawler Club, and the bouncer admits him without a problem.

Apparently, Gordy's got a new singer working for the band. Jack notes that whoever does Gordy's booking knows talent. Jack decides to sit in on a blackjack match, blatantly cheating by listening to the guy's heartbeat. Actually this is funny.

His mug was immobile, but he couldn’t control his heartbeat, which I was able to hear well enough. It thumped just a little faster whenever he got a good hand. I didn’t consider my listening in on his reactions to be cheating. This was just using my unnatural abilities to help ease the odds in my favor. Not all the cards were good, but when I left the table I was a sweet two hundred ahead. It’d make a nice Christmas present for my folks when the time came.

...um, that's like the definition of cheating, dude.

But it's a nice bit of characterization too. Jack's a knight in sour armor, but his moral code can be fairly flexible when need be.

Speaking of, it's time for a visit to Gordy. Jack notices the painting again - it definitely looks like Brett's work, to Jack's admittedly uneducated eye.

Gordy's pretty amenable, so Jack brings up Dimmy Wallace. I really enjoy the pitter-patter of dialogue here:

“Small-time bookie and loan shark.”

“Doesn’t sound like much.”

“He isn’t. Why you want to know?”

“He’s squeezing a friend of mine dry with interest on a debt he’s already paid.”

“It’s a tough world.”

“You know where I can find him?”

“I might. Who’s your friend?”

“Some artist, not much sense and less money, but likable.”

“Gambler?”

“Yeah. He’s losing money he doesn’t have.”

“Name?”

“Evan Robley.”

Gordy socked the name away into his memory, that much passed over his deadpan face. “You won’t have to find Dimmy, I’ll get the word out.”

Elrod's very fond of the dialogue only bits, I note again. They work because the characters' voices are very distinctive. It does make me miss Escott though, since he's always good in this kind of dialogue pattern. He's been MIA through most of the story so far.

Anyway Gordy says he'll tell Dimmy he's screwing around with a friend of his, and he'll leak out that Evan's a bad credit risk, so he'll have trouble making a bet. Gordy's a practical guy too and he doesn't need his bookies "stretching themselves on a mark with no bucks."

...I'm reminded of the practicality vs. pragmatism dialogue I had with the first book. Jack is practical, Escott is pragmatic. For all his criminal activity, Gordy's more like the former than the latter, I think. It's never personal, simply expedient.

Jack is grateful, and Gordy brushes it off, asking after Bobbi. He knows Marza too, calling her sandpaper on a cut.

The conversation drifts to the party and Jack mentions that he thinks the "big-time artist" may have done Gordy's paintings. Gordy says, "that'd be something, wouldn't it?" and lets Jack take a look at them.

The paintings lack Brett's signature, and in fact, there's no attribution at all. He asks Gordy where he'd gotten them. Apparently the decorator had a stack in the bin and Gordy picked out the ones he liked best.

It's very practical. Gordy certainly has enough money to pay for the work of a big name artist if he wants, but he just picks up stuff from the bargain bin if he likes it.

Jack's a bit surprised that there was an oil painting like this in the bin, but apparently people pick art to go with the color of their sofa, something both Jack and Gordy think sounds weird.

Jack does think that, while he didn't like Brett's own stuff, he "could live with" the paintings in Gordy's office. Gordy shares the name of the decorator and Jack decides to go looking around.

And he does, breaking in of course. It's a swank place, apparently. And he finds the bins of oil paintings - there are many of all sizes and from every period. Most are anonymous, which bothers Jack - thinking the artists were too modest or not proud enough. Some are interesting but none look like Brett's style.

He peeks into the office, but the desk drawers are locked and that kind of burglary isn't his style. It IS however Escott's. So I think we'll be seeing our missing threesome member soon.

Interestingly though, he's not in this chapter. He's out when Jack gets up, but he'd apparently found Jack's note and took out the "requested cash" from his safe. (A historical note: neither Jack nor Escott trust banks after the crash.) The safe sounds pretty awesome though:

He had a passion for secret panels, hidden doors, and similar camouflage, and the skill to indulge himself. The original basement steps were made of wood, hardly more than a scaffold running along the wall. He thought they were too rickety for regular use and had a contractor come in and build something considerably more solid. He was careful to choose bricks that matched those on the outside of his house and then went to some effort to age them so that they would look like part of the original construction. He supervised the whole thing and even tried his hand at bricklaying, then paid off the workmen before they had finished the job.

He lugged the safe into the dead space under the stairs and started building up the courses. By the time he was finished, the safe was sealed in for the life of the house, but by pushing on a certain brick, four square feet of a solid-looking wall pivoted open, giving one complete access to the combination lock and door. He piled a few pieces of old furniture around the stairs to complete the effect of a derelict area. It was a neat job and he was proud of it.

Jack actually has the combination but he's happy to let Escott play teller, because he's finicky about the dust around the opening. And indeed, we're told that the safe still looks like it wasn't touched in months. But there's an envelope on the table next to Jack's cot.

He calls Adrian, and Sandra answers. Hm. Apparently, things are going well there. Jack seems pretty happy to hear that. He arranges to come by, with Bobbi. Then he leaves the name of Gordy's decorator with Leighton Brett, so he could look into the painting thing.

We get a nice detailed description of Bobbi's outfit by the way:

Bobbi was dressed in a beautiful cream-colored suit with touches of brown velvet on the lapels and wrists. The hemline was low enough to be in fashion, but high enough to maintain a man’s interest; the neckline deep, but not scandalous. She looked perfect, and all I wanted to do when I saw her was rip off the wrappings and carry her to the nearest couch for some serious fooling around. I settled for a kiss of greeting for the moment and escorted her down to my car.

We were both full of talk, the kind of happy nonsense that all lovers indulge in. She was still flying high from her job last night and her agent was arranging yet another radio spot.

Bobbi's apparently gotten a few national spots, by the way, girl's moving up in the world. She invites Jack to come and watch, and of course he's on board, offering her a ride. (Jack, being a gentleman, also offers one for Marza too, though he's very happy to hear that she's not going to be there. Bobbi recognizes this and seems pretty amused.)

So they go in to see Sandra, who is looking rather cheerfully domestic. It reminds me of the time my mother realized a male friend of mine was dating when a woman answered his cell phone. It's the kind of social thing I'm pretty clueless about, but I get the sense there's maybe a bit of that here.

She even says something about how it's easier to clean someone else's place, and the kitchen, Jack notes, is much changed from the night before. Sandra does seem a little restless though, and she misses painting. Jack considers telling her it's safe now, but figures he'll tell Evan first, so the guy has some good news to give her.

She's also very happy that Alex is starting to work again. Apparently his work is still in demand, but he's refused all commissions. Evan is actually helping him clean up.

So they go to the studio. Let's take a look!

The studio was just off the kitchen, a very large room seamlessly added onto the original lines of the house. A bank of high windows ran along its north wall to catch the light. They were open even now but covered with long white curtains that moved with the night breeze like lazy ghosts.

Except for an overstuffed couch and chair in the center, all the furnishings were geared toward Adrian’s work. On one end were two slanted drawing tables, one with a light arranged beneath it to shine up through its translucent top. Other, more obscure equipment lined the walls and a huge network of shelving held his supplies and finished work. In the center of the room was his easel, heavier and more complicated than the ones the Robleys owned. I felt like an intruder in a sorcerer’s cave.

I know nothing about art. I do feel like he ought to be able to lend Sandra some paint though, but maybe she wants her own studio instead. I don't know how artists work.

Evan greets Bobbi, charmingly if bruised up. Adrian is droller, but remembers Bobbi's singing. Jack thinks he seems less formal and guarded, and his manner with Bobbi "hinted at the possibility of some considerable personal charm."

So they discuss the work, and we get a cute glimpse of the inter-artist friendship:

“I’m not sure,” she confessed. “You’re the expert. Have you a recommendation?”

“Yes,” Evan said promptly.

“Be decent for once,” Adrian warned.

“What I recommend is a neoclassic version of Goya’s Maja Desnuda with less surrounding background.”

“I told you to be decent.”

“Well, she can leave her clothes on, of course! It’s the pose I’m talking about—that air of sensual relaxation. If you don’t pick up on that, Alex, I swear I’ll come in and paint it myself.”

“You may try.”

Thanks to Wikipedia, I can see the painting. Indeed.

Bobbi, a little skeptical, asks what the pose is, and it's described. Adrian reassures her that whatever she wears, or doesn't wear, is up to her.

Sadly, Jack will have to miss the sittings as they'll be during the day. Bobbi asks if she can bring a friend, and Adrian clearly gets that she wants a chaperon, but has no issue with it.

It'll be three sittings then, an hour each. Bobbi's surprised, but Evan tells us that Alex is an expert, and they're paying for all the training he soaked up in the "fancy French art institute" he'd studied at.

Adrian tells Evan that he should go there, but Evan insists there's a difference between an institute and an institution. It definitely comes across as a long time argument between friends.

Jack pays Adrian in cash (with a receipt), and Adrian seems to appreciate that. He even starts doing a preliminary sketch to "block in the general form".

I have no idea what that means, but it sounds good, and Jack gets to watch a sketching session. We get to see the start of the project too!

He reached a stopping point and had Bobbi come over for a look. Evan and I crowded in as well. The sofa had turned into a chaise lounge covered in plump pillows, but not so much that they overwhelmed Bobbi’s reclining figure. She was languid but with an alertness in her eyes that seemed to dare the viewer to come closer. Her clothes were more suggestive of sweeping robes than the smart suit she wore, but anything else would have been inappropriate for the mood he was setting up.

Everyone's very impressed. He then transfers the sketch onto the canvas using some strange method that probably will make sense to someone who knows art, but sounds very esoteric to me:

I thought he’d repeat the sketch on the canvas, but instead he look a pin to the paper and punched tiny holes through it along all the major lines.

“What’s he doing?” I whispered to Evan.

“It’s how he transfers the sketch,” he whispered back.

“When he’s got enough holes in it, he’ll position the drawing where he wants on the canvas, then hit at it with a small bag of charcoal dust. The holes allow the dust to leave a guide mark for him to follow.”

“Why not just draw on the canvas?”

“Too hard to clean off if you should change your mind about something.”

I...guess that makes sense? Art is weird. Cool though.

So Adrian starts working on the canvas, very quickly, giving Jack an appreciation for how he's able to keep up with magazine demands. Apparently, the longest part of the whole process, for Adrian anyway, is the time for the paint to dry. He makes them promise to take it to a decent framer, which they will.

Adrian shows Bobbi more work, and Jack takes the opportunity to let Evan know that everything's safe. He is grateful, willing to not ask too many questions, but also thinks they'll dawdle a bit. He's noticed the vibes between Alex and Sandra, and seems inclined to foster it. It's very presumptuous but also pretty sweet too:

“Why should you stand in the way of romance?”

“Exactly! To tell the truth, I’d like to see her safely married or whatever to whoever—or is it whomever? Anyway, having Alex for a brother-in-law can’t be much worse than having him for a friend, and she could do worse herself. Besides, it would get her out of my hair, that awful little walk-up we live in, and into his hair and a very cozy house, which is just what she needs.”

Aw.

The guy is a widower under suspicious circumstances, but I don't get the sense that either Evan or Sandra believe foul play happened, so there you go.

They chat a bit more: Jack ends up asking about the dead wife. Why did she commit suicide?

The question seems to surprise Evan, who'd braced for something else when Jack asked about her. Apparently the suicide took them by surprise. She'd left a note about how she couldn't go on any longer.

Apparently Reva, the gallery owner, and Celia had been friends: both models who ended up with their artists. Evan does note that Leighton and Adrian are very different. If they'd gone to Leighton's studio, he'd still be talking. He's a showman, who'd put folks to a lot of trouble so they think they'll get their money's worth. Adrian doesn't do that, he lets the results speak for themselves.

More chatting and we get some backstory: Evan and Alex were friends for years. Alex comes from money, Evan doesn't, but they were close friends who basically went into art together.

Sandra comes in briefly to snark at him, but also leaves as quickly, something Evan likes a lot. Apparently she's normally prone to lecture.

Jack gets more backstory: Sandra and Alex didn't know each other well, since Alex was more Evan's friend. He went to France, came back, and she started to notice him, but he was getting established. He came back "after the crash", famous, married and off Sandra's eligible list.

Jack picks up on how Evan describes Alex being married: "thoroughly married". Evan starts to say how Celia is, not self centered per se, but...they're interrupted before he can elaborate.

There's more pleasantries. Alex and Sandra still want Evan to talk to Reva about selling something, and there's back and forth. Interestingly, Leighton Brett comes up in the conversation: his work is popular with the public, but it all comes in cycles.

The chapter ends with a joke about the artists being dead.

No one else is though, so everything's pretty nice!